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A Time in History (November 14-20)

FR. BERNARD E. TOAL was born on October 17, 1915 in Gloucester, New Jersey, USA. He
studied in Silver Creek, Bristol and Omaha and was ordained on December 18, 1943
at the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Buffalo, New York. Because of World War II he
could not go abroad immediately but did parish work in California and Arizona. In
1945, he went to the Philippines where, in Ozamis, he taught in the parish high
school. After vacation in 1951, he was appointed Spiritual Director and Bursar
of the seminary in Bristol, Rhode Island, USA. From 1957 until 1968 he was
Director of Probationers. Eleven years in Peru followed in the parish of “The
Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary” in Reynoso, Callao where he built a church,
rectory and a thriving parish community. Returning to the US in 1979, he served
in Blessed Sacrament Parish, Westminster, California, Immaculate Conception Parish
in Las Cruces, New Mexico, Immaculate Conception Parish in Grand Prairie, Texas
and St. Mary’s Parish in Fontana, California. In the fall of 2011, he moved to
the Columban House in Bristol, Rhode Island. For the last few years he was
cared for at St. Elizabeth Manor in Bristol where he remained cheerful. Thanks
to his gentle spirit and genuine interest in all those who crossed his path he
touched the lives of a great number of people and maintained personal contact
with many of them for decades until the end of his life. Father Bernard died at
the age of 101 years old in St. Elizabeth’s Manor on November 14, 2016 and is
buried in the cemetery of St. Mary’s, Bristol.

November
15

FR. JAMES O’GRADY was born in Woonsocket, in the diocese of Providence, Rhode Island,
USA in 1912. He died in Denver on November 15, 1970. He studied at Woonsocket
High School and Providence College, RI, before he began his studies for
priesthood in 1939. He was ordained
priest in December 1945 and assigned to the Philippines. In 1948, he was
assigned to the staff at St. Columban’s, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA. Later he
lived at St. Columbans, Nebraska. He worked in a parish in Denver until his
death. Father Jim is buried at Wheat
Ridge, Colorado, USA.

November 20

FR. ABRAHAM SHACKLETON was born at Rathmines, Dublin, Ireland in 1908. He died suddenly
at Dalgan on November 20, 1978. Father Abe
attended various Dublin schools until his father, an engineer, moved to
Belfast. He received practically all his secondary education at St. Malachy’s
College, Belfast. He began his studies for priesthood at St. Senan’s College,
Cahiracon in 1926. After his ordination in 1932 at Dalgan seminary, he did
post-graduate studies in Rome and was awarded a Doctorate in Canon Law [1936].
He spent the next ten years [1936-46] in Hanyang, China. He was appointed to
the U.S. [1947] and was engaged in many apostolates there for the next twenty
years - promotion, office work, spiritual direction and student formation. In
1967, he went to St. Columban’s, Solihull, UK where he assisted in setting up
the office. He left for the Philippines in 1969 and worked in the diocese of
Ozamis until ill health forced him to return to Ireland in 1976. Father Abe is
buried at Dalgan.